I recently spent the weekend at ISS Atlantic City. If you have not been to a show, put it on your to-do list! I was able to meet so many new shops, industry experts and had the opportunity to reconnect with several shops that I've talked to through the Facebook Groups and forums.
All I can say is that trade shows give you the opportunity to retreat away from your business and really think hard about the day-to-day. It is a humbling opportunity because you meet shops that may be 10x larger or smaller than you and more importantly, it gives you the opportunity to learn. The people you stumble upon and meet are connections that you will value immensely.
Each show I usually go with an agenda, to learn more about a specific sector of the industry.
For me, it was all about automation and efficiency.
Let me backtrack a second. I was reading an article recently that redefined our role as screen printers. It asked Are we really screen printers? Or screen makers?
Let's face it. Our shops may spend more time actually separating artwork, printing film, burning screens, and setting up jobs than we do the printing. The industry argues over which presses print more shirts per hour, but we should really think about that differently.
We should really zero in on the process before a job actually goes to press.
That starts when the customer emails, calls or walks through your doors.
I asked several shops what their turn-around was and most shops gave the typical "7-10 day turn around" answer. I ask you reading this:
Why is that the going rate for turnarounds?
If we are able to get products within 24 hours given the current circumstances and ease of ordering from major vendors, why is it that we can't go to press 24-48 hours later and make our turn around even faster.
When I asked that question to other shops, you usually see a lot of moaning and groaning, but it comes down to a couple reasons.
"It's the customer, it takes forever to get the customer to approve the invoices and the artwork."
"Our artists would have to work around the clock to get artwork done"
"We would have to burn screens within 24 hours and that sounds outrageous"
But the underlying theme here is that it is possible. And if it truly is possible, then why aren't we building our screen printing infrastructure to do so.
What would happen if the infamous Custom Ink or Amazon came out with 2-day tees?
Would we panic? Envy them, more?
I would rather not think about it, and instead focus on how we can transform our industry to accommodate it.
Based on these conversations I had at the show, I spent the remainder of my time learning about different ways to become more automated and efficient in our industry.
Read the full article here:
https://www.printavo.com/blog/iss-atlantic-city-major-take-aways